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It never ceases to amaze me how the JDK and dotnet core have flipped in their relationship to the software engineering community.

What was once open is closed. What was once closed is open.

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Java is just as open as it always was. Oracle has been gradually moving itself away from being the sole source & driver of Java. OpenJDK is open and free, and is both community-supported and driven by several companies prominent in the Java ecosystem.

Oracle JDK is based on it, and Oracle is adding proprietary features so they can make a buck.

Honestly, I'd say the new situation is better than the old. Oracle no longer has the stranglehold over Java that they had since they bought Sun.

Java is as open as ever. Oracle is not in charge of Java and is not taking it closed source. They are a huge supporter of open source Java, contributing the most patches to the open source version. Oracle happens to have a paid subscription model as well, that helps to fund continued open source contributions. No doubt other companies will have (or have now) similar subscription models surrounding the open source platform.

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